Gov’t Pro-EU Leaflet 2016 : The expensive scandal for which no-one has ever been held to account

Recalling the desperate attempt by Lord Cameron’s government to scare us into voting Remain

Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2024

We remind readers of how every UK household was lied to, two months before the 2016 Referendum

It’s easy to forget today – over eight years on – the industrial-scale deception that was attempted on the British people in 2016 by the then government of Lord Cameron and George Osborne. This is perhaps best embodied in a glossy 16-page booklet produced in April of that year at great expense and delivered through the doors of every household in the United Kingdom.

Remainers and Rejoiners would of course prefer that we forget all about this sorry episode. “Why are you going back over all ground?” they ask. “You won, now move on.”

With Sir Keir Starmer's government now aiming for ever-closer 'alignment' with the EU, it is clear the battle for independence, sovereignty, democracy and freedom is not yet won. It is therefore appropriate to remind readers of what we all faced in 2016.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

The reasons we mustn’t forget are as follows

"Why the Government Believes That Voting to Remain in the European Union is the Best Decision for the UK"

This was one of the most extreme exercises of Soviet-style propaganda ever carried out by a British government
It cost £9.3 million of UK taxpayers’ money
This excludes the costs of the phalanxes of civil servants involved in its preparation
The booklet was accompanied by a dedicated government website
The claims made in the booklet could best be described as ‘guesswork’
No attempt was made to put the case to Leave

The British electorate was about to be presented with a binary choice : Remain or Leave
No attempt was made to present the case to Leave
The government’s booklet addressed the benefits of only one of the two options on the ballot paper
Naturally the Electoral Commission permitted this
No-one has ever been held accountable for any of this

How the government justified this propaganda

David Cameron’s government responded to criticism saying that the government was simply responding to a perceived need from voters for more information on which to make their decision.

“It is important that this key decision by the British people should be made on the basis of the facts.
Independent polling, carried out on behalf of the Cabinet Office, has suggested that 85% of voters want more information and, in particular, want the Government to set out more information on the basis of which electors could take an informed decision.”
- David Lidington, Minister for Europe, House of Commons statement, 11 Apr 2016

Observations

It was while researching through government papers for another report we're working on that we once again came across the infamous leaflet produced by Lord Cameron's arch-Remainer government back in 2016 and which was delivered to nearly 30m households across the UK.

This on its own was an exercise in mass state propaganda worthy of the EU Commission. Taken with all the other papers produced at the time, including two substantial reports from HM Treasury containing wholly erroneous forecasts of what would happen if we voted Leave, we can only say that this was a sorry period in the country's democratic history.

Fortunately the majority of the British electorate were not deceived and they voted to leave the European Union in any case, regardless of all the government threats against doing so. Back in 2016, the terms "misinformation" and "disinformation" were less prevalent than they are today. What is clear is that the government of Lord Cameron and George Osborne was most definitely guilty of the former and we would argue it was in fact guilty of the latter.

Thank goodness for the innate common sense of the majority of the British people.

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[ Sources: UK government archives ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Fri 02 Aug 2024

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Reader Comments 8

1. Ashley Great Britain , Friday, August 02, 2024, 06:47:

I ripped that paper up and gleefully threw it in the bin. I remember that I couldn't believe that the government had done this. It was a pure attempt to sway the vote in remains favour.
Millions must have felt the same and it only added to the Conservatives downfall.
I hold those involved with utter contempt. I view them as self serving traitorous elite's not to be trusted. It added fuel to my distrust and dislike of the political parties we have had. (except for Reform uk)
So much has gone wrong with the UK because of them and the EU. I have actually grown to loathe those parties and their people, with few exceptions.
Now we are on the Labour fun bus, scream if you want to go faster.

2. Llwyd , Friday, August 02, 2024, 09:19:

I also suspect that millions of people who were undecided about the vote were also swayed by this document which likely meant that many more would have voted to leave if they’d been given a more balanced analysis of the decision to exit the EU.
Some on the Remain side are now even trying to convince us that there was no Project Fear. There are no bounds to their collective blindness.

3. Sparky , Friday, August 02, 2024, 11:01:

And 8 years on the electorate have voted in a Labour Govt that stood on closer ties with the EU. That should tell you all you need to know about what people think of Brexit. And Labour will be in for 2 terms.
.
The Leave vote won on the back of immigration (see you gov tracker) and what we have got is record immigration since leaving but now the immigration is from Asia to hold up the NHS and care sector.
.
Concerned about expenditure of £9.3 million, that’s a joke!. The OBR (the ones that Liz Truss ignored) still stick to 4% of GDP hit as a result of Brexit. Then because of Brexit we had BJ who loved spending taxpayers money on vanity projects such as his bridge to N Ireland and garden bridge over the Thames.
.
What happened to N Ireland by the way, oh, its still in the EU!
.
Off to enjoy my soft drink with its tethered cap. An example of how the EU will continue to have a significant influence on the UK wether you like it or not. (I think it’s a great idea)

4. LuxuryBalloon , Friday, August 02, 2024, 11:28:

The UK government also send out leaflets in the Scottish independence referendum in 2014 … highlighting what the UK government believed to be the main benefits of Scotland remaining in the UK.
Cameron thought he could use the same approach for the 2016 EU referendum.

5. Captain Thunderbolt , Friday, August 02, 2024, 16:18:

3. Sparky,
And 8 years on the electorate have voted in a Labour Govt that stood on closer ties with the EU. That should tell you all you need to know about what people think of Brexit. And Labour will be in for 2 terms.
.
All that tells me is that the previous government mishandled the opportunities after leaving the EU. and lost their way.
#
Sparky
The Leave vote won on the back of immigration (see you gov tracker) and what we have got is record immigration since leaving but now the immigration is from Asia to hold up the NHS and care sector.
.
Vote leave won one a superior campaign compared to remain. leaving the EU meant different things for different people which collectively got them over the line
#
Sparky
What happened to N Ireland by the way, oh, its still in the EU!
.
Are you forgetting why?
#
Sparky
Concerned about expenditure of £9.3 million, that’s a joke!. The OBR (the ones that Liz Truss ignored) still stick to 4% of GDP hit as a result of Brexit.
.
Come on sparkless there is no way in heaven that is the case, only in Doc Browns Deloran time machine can we live in a parallel timeline where the UK would be richer by 4% of GDP if there was no covid no war in Ukraine no higher inflation then every other economy would have 4% increase in GDP
#
Sparky
Then because of Brexit we had BJ who loved spending taxpayers money on vanity projects such as his bridge to N Ireland and garden bridge over the Thames.
.
David Cameron intervened to try and overrule the advice of senior civil servants in order to extend the underwriting for the Bridge. Cameron, who was a senior adviser at Greensill at the time
#
Sparky
Off to enjoy my soft drink with its tethered cap. An example of how the EU will continue to have a significant influence on the UK wether you like it or not. (I think it’s a great idea)
.
Only if you like the idea that the UK taxpayer will end up lining the back pockets of those in Brussels for no return
.

6. NH , Friday, August 02, 2024, 18:09:

The leaflet was totally irresponsible, it tries to give the view that the Government was united on this issue but the Leave campaign was lead by politicians in the Government. To use public money for this and not present the alternative view was disgraceful and very similar to what happens in the EU.
.
The EU is 17.5% of the world economy and UK exports to the EU account for less than 15% of the UK economy. As we have a huge deficit with the EU the UK is much more reliant on trade with the rest of the world to balance this. We are also far more reliant on the rest of the world for the supply of goods. To give away control of 85% of our economy to protect the 15% is ridiculous.
.
The arguments about not joining the Euro are not valid. When you are in the EU they control your whole economy. As we would be the only major economy outside of the Euro we would have had no support and would have ended up bailing out the Euro at huge cost just as Germany had to.
.
The people ranting on about "bottle caps", as though this is what matters, have lost the plot !

7. jane4brexit , Saturday, August 03, 2024, 05:32:

The electorate have less voted in a Labour government, showing disagreement with Brexit as Sparky said, than failed to vote against a Labour government because of being put off voting for all parties by lies and incompetence such as shown by this leaflet.
Instead remarkably a number of people, almost half those who just voted Labour, instead voted for a totally new party Reform, which has the history of supporting and getting us Brexit and of course the Leader and man without whom Brexit would not have happened, Nigel Farage.
Do not forget that less voted Labour in the 2024 election than in the previous 2019 election and almost all General Elections going back many decades. In fact of all those eligible to vote including those old enough who did not think voting changed einough or was important enough to register, only just over 17% voted Labour, 34% of 52% of all.
Hardly a consensus for Labour or for more links to the EU, instead the complete opposite.

8. LuxuryBalloon , Saturday, August 03, 2024, 16:02:

7 jane4brexit
Far from maximising the advantages of Brexit and realigning with the Commonwealth, Boris Johnson’s government with Liz Truss, Jacob Rees-Mogg, David Frost and Suella Braverman eked out a few underwhelming trade deals and actually managed to jack immigration up to record levels. Little wonder a country which has seen little benefit from leaving the EU is receptive to getting back into bed with Brussels.

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